There has been a lot of publicity recently about a new tick-borne disease which has appeared in England caused by a blood parasite called babesia. So far there have been four confirmed cases in Essex. It is carried by ticks which attach to the dog and feed on blood for two or three days before dropping off. The tick usually has to be attached for more than 24 hours for disease transmission to occur.

In Aberdeenshire this particular disease would still be very low risk but ticks are very common here and they carry various nasties, in particular Lyme Disease, so any dog that is being exposed to ticks should be protected with a tick prevention product.

Our main strategies are -

a tablet which covers dogs for three months OR

a spot on which is applied along the back once a month OR

a collar which is effective for 7-8 months

All would be equally effective so it’s personal preference which to use.

Ticks are mainly active from March to November but with milder winters they can appear at any time and we had several dogs come into the practice with ticks in January. They are present in woodland, moorland and areas of long grass like riverbanks.